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Lloyd's to report £1 billion profits

LLOYD’S of London, the insurer that was threatened with financial ruin because of its exposure to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, is expected to report record profits of more than £1 billion next month.

This will highlight the turnround at the insurance market, which was faced with a bill for £1.6 billion after September 11. Results from all

66 syndicate members are still being counted but experts at Lloyd’s are confident that the £1 billion figure will be achieved. This compares with £834m in 2002.

This means that the few Lloyd’s names left with unlimited liability will finally see cheques coming their way, instead of writing them out. However, under the market’s arcane rules, these will not be paid out for several years.

Lloyd’s would not comment on the profits but Julian James, director of worldwide markets, said it was important that the syndicates did not start